Research from Youth Justice New Jersey shows that 150 years of Jamesburg really is enough, and that community-based systems of care are far more effective in rehabilitating youth and safeguarding neighborhoods.

With fewer than 300 young people in New Jersey’s youth prisons to begin with, the annual per person cost is now $200,000. There are also huge racial disparities in these facilities, with just 15 of the 300 youth in detention being white, despite equal rates of committing the same offenses.

For more information on youth justice in New Jersey and the Community Foundation’s work in this area, contact Margarethe Laurenzi at 973-267-5533 or mlaurenzi@cfnj.org.